Pain Killer is the sixth studio album by American country music group Little Big Town. It was released on October 21, 2014, through Capitol Nashville. Little Big Town co-wrote eight of the album's thirteen tracks. Pain Killer was produced by Jay Joyce.
Critical reception
Pain Killer received widespread critical acclaim. In giving the album a rating of "B+", Bob Paxman of Country Weekly praised the group's vocal harmonies and the songwriting, particularly the songs written by Lori McKenna, but criticized the "overly cluttered" production on some tracks. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic called the album as "the rarest thing in contemporary country, a record with an expansive world-view delivered with a kinetic kick and infallible melodies, a record that gives no indication of where it's going upon first listen but remains compelling upon further spins". The album has a score of 83 on Metacritic indicating “universal acclaim.”
Accolades Year Association Category Result 2015 Academy of Country Music Album of the Year 2015 Country Music Association Album of the Year 2016 Grammy Awards Best Country Album
Commercial performance The album debuted at number seven on Billboard 200 and number three on Top Country Albums chart, selling 42,000 copies in its first week. As of January 2017, the album has sold 511,300 copies in the United States. The album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over a million units.
Track listing The album's track listing was announced on July 14.
Personnel Adapted from Allmusic and Pain Killer liner notes.
Little Big Town Karen Fairchild — vocals Kimberly Schlapman — vocals Philip Sweet — vocals, drums, acoustic guitar Jimi Westbrook — vocals, acoustic guitar
Musicians Johnny Duke — acoustic guitar, electric guitar, pedal steel guitar Jedd Hughes — acoustic guitar, electric guitar, ganjo, tiple Jay Joyce — electric guitar, acoustic guitar, keyboards, ganjo, mandolin, synthesizer, bass guitar, bells, pump organ Seth Rausch — drums Giles Reaves — keyboards, percussion, vocoder, synthesizer horns, vibraphone, vocal pads John Thomasson — bass guitar Ryan Tyndell — acoustic guitar, 12-string guitar
Production Richard Dodd — mastering Jason Hall — engineering, mixing Jedd Hughes — engineering Scott Johnson — production assistant Jay Joyce — engineering, mixing, production Reid Scelza — assistant Matthew Wheeler — assistant
Visual and imagery Karen Fairchild — art direction Kelly Jerrell — art direction Meritocracy — art direction Matthew Welch — photography
Charts Chart positions Chart (2014–16) Peakposition UK Albums (OCC) 143
Year-end charts Chart (2014)Position US Top Country Albums (Billboard)54Chart (2015)PositionUS Billboard 20038 US Top Country Albums (Billboard)10Chart (2016)PositionUS Top Country Albums (Billboard)30
Certifications
References